Cameroon take aim at depleted Mozambique

Cameroon will be looking to return to winning ways in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualification group D when they host Mozambique at the Japoma Stadium on Friday.

Kick-off is at 6pm CAT.

The Indomitable Lions are wounded as they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat against Ivory Coast away in their previous group D game last month, having secured a 2-0 win over Malawi at home in their first game.

Cameroon are placed second on the group standings - a point behind Ivory Coast and they will move to the top of the table if they defeat Mozambique, and the other result between Ivory Coast and Malawi goes their way.

Toni Conceiçao, the Cameroon head coach, revealed their approach ahead of their first game against Mozambique with the two teams scheduled to meet again in Morocco on 11 October.

“We have to be positive and careful in any judgment we make. We win, everything is fine, we lose, everything is wrong," Conceicao told the media.

"No, it's not like that. We need to have a critical mind, some criticism in order to improve things, not criticise in order to criticise."

Meanwhile, Mozambique have endured a poor start to their group D campaign, having drawn 0-0 at home with Ivory Coast last month, before losing 1-0 to Malawi away.

Despite being placed at the bottom of group standings, the Mambas are only three points behind leaders, Ivory Coast and they will be hoping to stun a much-fancied Cameroon side.

However, Mozambique head coach Horacio Gonçalves has revealed that they will be without key players such as Zainadine Júnior, Witi Quembo and César Machava due to injury.

“Initially, we had to release Victor Quambe and Nilton from our camp. Later, we released César Machava," Gonçalves said on Opais.

"We also had to release Zainadine and Witi and possibly, we are still waiting to learn whether we should release Kamo-Kamo, due to lack of documentation."

The last competitive meeting between Cameroon and Mozambique was in November 2020.

The Indomitable Lions claimed a comfortable 2-0 win over the Mambas in the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Mozambique